Taking Care of Them
by coolgurl4eva
Summary: Sequel to "Take Care of Him". When Severus and Sirius are asked to risk their lives for Harry and Draco's, will they do what's right, or what's easier?
1. Chapter 1: Marriage and Children

"Why do we have to wear these ridiculous formal robes? All we're doing is going to the French Ministry, you and Hermione are going to sign some papers, wave your wands, and then we're going out for dinner to celebrate. Why does that necessitate me wearing robes I can't breathe in? I'm not even the one getting married!" Draco glared at the robes that currently lay on Harry's bed. "How come yours are all nice and swishy and mine are stiff?"

"One, I picked out my own robes and you owl-ordered yours. Two, I paid for my own robes. Three, Uncle Severus sent me to the guy that makes his robes. Four, you're a wizard, man. You can use magic to fix them. You have to be downstairs in five minutes, Draco. I suggest you get dressed, or Mum will be rather annoyed." Harry walked out of his room, leaving Draco to lament the non-"swishyness" of his formal robes.

As soon as Harry came down the stairs, Narcissa started fixing his robes. "You can't get married in wrinkly robes, Harry." He rolled his eyes. He and Draco were going to have a sibling by September 1, only two weeks away, and Narcissa had become rather emotional. They found it better to let her do what she wanted. It saved Gawain a load of trouble. "Your father is going to meet us at the Department of Magical Records. He didn't want to work today, but they called him in anyway. He's such a loving and hardworking man." She sniffed. "We're so proud of you, Harry. Your mother would have loved to see you get married. She was such a wonderful mother. Hermione's a lot like her."

Harry wished one of his uncles were there. He loved Narcissa, but he'd heard this speech several times, each one more tearful than the next. Severus and Sirius were picking up Hermione and her parents with a portkey. Regulus was working in England and couldn't come to the marriage or the dinner. Since Narcissa couldn't use any form of magical transportation, Harry and Draco were going to drive with her in their car. Harry knew how to drive and was competent. "I wish my mum could have been here too, but I think she'd be happy that she has such a wonderful stand in." That set Narcissa off even more.

"What did you say to her, Harry?" Draco muttered as they helped her in the car. "She's making more noise than a badly-charmed tea pot."

"I just told her that she was doing a good job at being my mum." He shrugged. "I didn't know it would set her off like that."

"Everything sets her off these days. '_Oh, Harry made Head Boy and Quidditch Captain'_, '_Draco's made Slytherin Prefect again, and he's Captain too'…_it's enough to make me ill."

"Be nice, Dragon. You are in a bad mood today."Harry shut Draco's door. "_Hermione, tell Dragon to stop whining. It's getting irritating." _

"_Dragon, no whining on our special day… You're meeting my parents for the first time, and you don't want to give them the wrong impression, do you?" _

"_No. You don't have to deal with un-swishy robes, overemotional mothers, or bumpy roads, either. I have a right to be cranky." _

"_You do not. Behave, Dragon, or I shall be forced to take away your favorite blanket until we get back to Hogwarts."  
_

"_You cannot have my blanket, Granger. I won't let you have it." _

"_Behave then." _

"_Yes, ma'am…you're __**so**__ lucky, Harry."_ Draco glared at him from the back seat.

"_I know. See you later, 'Mione." _

"Even though I'm used to it now, it's still rather odd when you talk to each other in your heads," Narcissa muttered. "What do you talk about?"

"Most of the time, we discuss prank ideas that we don't want anyone to know about. Sometimes, we discuss punishments. Right, Dragon?"

"I'm going to get you, Harry," Draco growled.

"You wouldn't dream of it, brother…not with Mum in the front seat, anyway." Harry turned down a side road and parked in front of a dark grey building. "Everyone out!"

* * *

"This food is really good, Dad. Where did you find out about this place?" Draco , finally happy, now that he had changed into "normal" clothes, dug into his chosen dish with relish.

"One of the Aurors suggested it to me. It's owned by squibs and it caters to both magical and muggle diners. That's why Harry can eat his chicken and mashed potatoes, even though that combination is rarely found in France. The food is rather tasty, isn't it?"

Harry, Hermione, and Sirius nodded. Mrs. Granger looked at Gawain. "What is it you do for a living, Mr. Malfoy? I don't believe Hermione mentioned it."

"I'm the head of an elite department in the Ministry of Magic here in France. We deal with law enforcement, creating spells, and disposal of dangerous magical objects. It's a wonderful job, and it pays well, but I work a lot. You're dentists, aren't you?"

"We are. You have a wonderful way of explaining things so that we can understand. I'm afraid we gave up trying to understand our Hermione a long time ago."

Harry grinned. "She's brilliant, isn't she? Second in the school."

"You never told us that, dear. Who's first?" Mr. Granger looked at Harry and Draco, who were very close to laughing at the way Hermione blushed.

Severus decided to take control of the situation. "Harry is. Draco's third. Don't feel bad that Hermione's only second on the all-time academic list, Mr. Granger. My sister, that's Harry's mother, was one of the smartest people in our world. She was eligible for Mastery Level status in Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense, but she turned them all down when she realized that our friend, Remus Lupin, would not be able to receive them due to his status as a werewolf."

"There really are such things as werewolves in your world? I thought 'Mione was just making that up to scare us."

"She wasn't. Remus was a kind and gentle man, though, unlike many of his fellow werewolves, who were just as vicious human as they were wolf." Narcissa put in.

"We're more than capable of handling any dangerous magical creatures, Mum. Harry, Draco, and I invented several spells that allow them to be studied, rather than killed." She smiled at Harry. The conversation went on throughout the meal.

Some rather uncomfortable questions came during dessert. "Do you have any sort of income to provide for our daughter, Harry?"

Sirius laughed, and answered the question for his bewildered nephew. "Harry is the richest seventeen year old, no, richest person, in magical Europe. On his seventeenth birthday, he inherited the titles and wealth of the Potter estate, which totals in the millions of galleons. That's just the gold. Several properties and artifacts go along with that. There was no biological heir, so that's why he got it," Sirius answered the unasked question.

"He's also the heir to the Ravenwood estate, which he'll receive when I die."Ariana chuckled. "I hope that isn't soon, but nevertheless, he'll be well taken care of. You do not have to worry about money where Harry is concerned."

Mr. Granger let out a sigh of relief. "I had heard that you were wealthy, but I didn't realize how wealthy you were." The questioning wasn't over yet. "Should we expect grandchildren, young man?"

Harry's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Gawain tried hard not to burst out laughing at the expression on his son's face. "I'd like some children, sir. We can't exactly do much to prevent it. Hermione and I are so magically powerful that none of the normal methods of preventing pregnancy will work on us." Harry wanted to crawl under the table. Draco and Severus were trying not to look at each other for fear that they would laugh.

"Speaking of children, Gawain, our baby is coming right now!" Narcissa yelped. It was going to be a long night.

A/n: Here's the first chapter. I hope you all like it!


	2. Chapter 2:Welcome to Crazy Land

It had been hours since the healers of The Magical Hospital of Paris had told Gawain to leave his wife's side. She'd started hemorrhaging after the birth of their beautiful twin girls, and no one had told him anything since. He wasn't quite sure what he'd do if he became a widower a second time—he didn't want to know.

A man with dark hair, who, for some reason reminded Gawain forcefully of James, sat next to him in the tiny waiting room. Perhaps a bit of conversation would take his mind off the impending situation. "Hello, I'm Paul Sullivan. Is this your first child?"

"I have a seventeen year old at home. I wasn't there for his birth. Life was a bit more complicated then, in the middle of the war."

"I knew you looked like you were English. Did you go to Hogwarts?" Paul Sullivan was a bit enthusiastic for Gawain's mood, but he did his best to be polite.

"I did. I graduated from there in 1977." He sighed. "There aren't many of us left, you know."

"I know. I graduated in '78. You must have known the Marauders, then, unless you were in Slytherin."

Gawain looked at the man with disdain. "I happen to have been a Slytherin, and I am well acquainted with all of the Marauders, especially since I happen to be one."He rolled his eyes. "If you'll remember, there were two Slytherins in the group, Severus Snape and I."

"Oh…you're the one who went with the red haired girl, Lila or something, right?" Paul scratched his head. "Is she the mother of your seventeen year old?"

"Her name was Liliana, and yes, she is the mother of my son." He was thankful that the man didn't ask any further questions about that particular topic; the man probably knew how she'd died, anyway.

"I have a daughter at Hogwarts; she'll be starting her second year in Ravenclaw. I suppose your son is in Slytherin?"

"He's in Gryffindor, like his mother. He's going to be Head Boy and Quidditch Captain this year. My nephew is the Quidditch Captain and 7th year prefect for Slytherin. We don't pay any mind to petty house rivalries in my home." Gawain shook his head. "It doesn't do much good anyway, other than to cause more people to die."

"I'd wager that you've seen enough death to last several lifetimes."

"Most people think that Aurors get used to seeing death all of the time, especially since we've just finished taking care of the last of Voldemort's unmarked followers, but we don't." Thoughts of Lily were never far from his mind when he mentioned Voldemort.

A green-garbed healer came into the small room. "Head Auror Malfoy? If I may have a word with you in the corridor…"

"I hope everything goes well with you, sir."

"The same to you…"Gawain followed the healer into the corridor.

"Your wife will live, sir. That is always the best news. She will not be able to head home for a few days because we have to make sure everything is completely healed first. Since she is sleeping, I recommend that you go home for a bit, get some sleep, and then come back later. Visiting hours are until 10 p.m."The healer, a middle-aged man with sandy brown hair, smiled at him. "I would think that your other children will be happy to hear some news."

"I'm sure they will. I would have sent them news earlier, but my younger son was married last night, and…I'm sure you know how that is." Gawain grinned.

"I do. I'll keep watch over your family until you return."

"Thanks." Gawain headed for the floo, far too tired to apparate or drive home, even though it was only a few minutes away.

* * *

Harry and Draco sat in the kitchen, munching on some sandwiches that they'd made. Hermione was in the Potions lab, working on improvements to the Wolfsbane Potion with Severus and Ariana (who'd stayed the night), and Sirius was napping. "It's been a long time. I wonder if something went wrong."

"I hope not." Harry took another bit of his sandwich and nervously watched the floo. The last thing their family needed was for something to go wrong with Narcissa. Suddenly the floo flared green and a very tired Gawain stumbled out of the fireplace. Draco and Harry jumped up to help him to the table, and immediately set some food and tea in front of him.

"Thank you, boys…there were a few problems with your mum after the birth, but she'll be alright soon. I'm going to take you later to see your sisters later, after I get a nice long nap."Gawain sat back and waited to see which one would notice that "sister" had been plural.

"That's…did he say 'sisters', Draco?" Harry's eyes went wide.

"I think he did, dear brother." Draco looked at Gawain. "You did, didn't you?"

Gawain nodded. "One for each of you…They're beautiful. Then, they would be, considering their parents."

Draco and Harry rolled their eyes. "We can't say no to that, can we Harry? We did get the right genetics, didn't we?"

"Yes, but I'm better looking."Harry grinned.

"Are not!" Draco glared at his brother.

"Not this again!" Gawain put his hand to his head to stop the headache he felt coming. "You both got the best of the Black side and the best of the Malfoy side…Don't you want to know your sisters names?" The bantering seventeen year olds turned to their father and sweetly looked at him, as if they were angels. "I'll take that as a yes. The one with your grandmother's hair is named Calista Ariana Noreen, and blondish one's name is Honoria Athena Elizabeth. Traditional, yet unique."

"We'll need to come up with nicknames for them." Harry grinned at Draco.

"…Especially since we don't like being called by our own names." Draco shuddered. "Could you imagine if we had to go around being called by our full names all the time, Harrison Orion Abraxas Malfoy?"

"I do believe that would be horrible, Draco Cygnus Abraxas Malfoy."

Gawain rolled his eyes. "You two don't get teased about your names half as much as I got teased about mine."

"You had Lucius for a brother though, Dad. It's not as if you could have avoided it. Thankfully, Draco did not get those genetics."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake dear, it's not as if your name is _that _terrible." Ariana came up the stairs from the lab.

Harry and Draco smiled at each other. It wasn't often they got to see Gawain talked to as if he was a child. "It is that terrible, Mum. You have a normal name from normal parents."

Ariana raised an eyebrow at her son. "Are you saying that I'm not normal? I should take that as an insult."

"You're perfectly normal, Nana. Dad's just overly tired."

"At least I can count on my grandchildren to love me…and your brothers-in-law. Severus and Sirius were always very nice. Well, except for that one time they turned poor Lily's hair green and her skin orange…that wasn't very nice."She smiled. "Do get some sleep dear. You won't get any sleep in a few days."


	3. Chapter 3:The Other Shoe Drops

Harry snuck into the nursery late one night, just after the twins had arrived home. He took "his sister," Honoria, into his arms and sat down in the sturdy rocking chair in the corner. She was the smaller of the two and slept about as much as Harry did. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret, Ria. No one else would understand, and you're a good listener." He shifted her so that he could rest his arm on the chair. "I keep having visions of bad things happening. In some of them, Dad and Mum die. In others, Nana, Draco, and Hermione do. It's always by fire. I know this is somewhat irrational, since we have awesome wards against fire here, but magic isn't always infallible. There's more to this story. I know, even though Dad says they've caught them all, that there are still unmarked Death Eaters out there. That's why he works so much. We've barely seen him for more than five minutes a day during the past week."

"That's true, Harry. How did you find that out?"Gawain quietly walked toward Harry and pulled the other rocking chair closer.

"We aren't stupid, Dad. Most of his loyal followers were unmarked because it was easier to infiltrate various governments. You should've thought about that."

Gawain chuckled. "I may be intelligent, but you got that practical side from your mother." He smiled at Harry. "You should get back to bed before your wife wakes up and wonders where you are."

"She sleeps like the dead, Dad. It takes a lot to wake her up. I could say the same thing about you. What are you doing in here, anyway?"

"I like to watch them sleep. It's something I was never able to do with you." Gawain had a far-away look in his eyes, as if he was trying to recapture the past.

"You have to admit that meeting your child when they're already self-sufficient is a lot easier than raising them from scratch." Harry set Honoria in her cradle.

"Spoken like a man who isn't a father yet." The elder Malfoy put his arm around his son. "If you're as good a father as you are a brother, you'll have the best children in the world."

"I've had a pretty good example the past few years. Hermione and I are eager to have children so that we can call you 'Grandpa' and make you feel old." Harry grinned.

"I'm only 37! Considering how long Malfoys live, I won't be old for at least another 70 years," Gawain said childishly. "Severus and Sirius are older than me, so if you call me old, they're older."

"Keep telling yourself that, Dad." Harry slipped out of the room, leaving his father muttering about "certain teenagers who spend too much time with their sarcastic uncles."

* * *

"Mum, can we go school shopping today? Uncle Sirius volunteered to take us and make sure we're behaved and all of that." Harry asked at breakfast. The "responsible adult" in question covered his grin with his steaming mug of tea.

Narcissa snorted. "You'd spend more time making sure _he_ behaved."She 'glared' at Sirius. "It would do you all some good to get out of the house for a bit."

"So…"Draco looked pleadingly at his mother.

"Don't bring them home drunk, Sirius." Harry smirked at Draco, who rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't dream of it, 'Cissa."

The four set off for Diagon Alley immediately. Hermione wanted to look in the pet shop. Crookshanks had died during the last part of their sixth year, and she desperately wanted another pet. "Why you'd want another pet like that horrible cat is beyond me. He bit me no less than twenty-seven times!" Draco whined.

"I liked him."Sirius held the door open for his assorted relatives. "He was most helpful in apprehending Wormtail during your Third Year."

"He was, but other than that, I'm inclined to agree with Draco on this one." Harry quickly stepped to the other side of his brother to avoid Hermione's hand coming at his head. There was a plethora of pets to choose from, but Hermione dragged them to the back of the store, where all of the cats were. Harry scanned the baskets. He picked up a tiny white half-kneazle kitten with orange ears and paws. "I like this one, 'Mione."

"He looks like a bit of a lost cause. Look at how skinny he is." Draco scratched the cat behind the ears. It was clear he liked it, no matter what he said.

"He's so cute!" Hermione squealed. "He reminds me of you when we first met."

Harry looked at Draco. "Do you mean skinny, under-loved, and abused? I can see the resemblance perfectly, love." He rolled his eyes. "So does this mean were taking him?"

"He'll die if we don't."She grabbed at small travel basket from a shelf near the front of the shop and a few toys. They had more than enough food for the cat at home, so that saved some expense.

The proprietor, a tall elderly woman, wrinkled her nose with distaste when Hermione came to check out. "We don't serve Muggleborns in this establishment any longer."

Harry looked the woman straight in the eyes. "That muggleborn you won't serve saved your scrawny behind two years ago when she helped defeat Voldemort." Power radiated off of him. "I hope you realize who you're dealing with, ma'am. I am the sole heir of the Potter, Black, McGonagall and Ravenwood fortunes, and my grandmother has a lot of pureblood friends who could ruin your business for good. I would just walk out the door right now, without this kitten in my arms, but I have a feeling you've been treating him about as well as you've been treating my wife."

"Take the cat…I don't care. I was going to drown him later anyway. That'll be a galleon for the stuff." Harry practically threw the coin in her face. It was like that in every store they went to, except for the ice cream shop.

"We'll be doing all of our shopping via Paris from now on."Sirius was in such a bad mood that not even his triple chocolate sundae with extra sprinkles and a cherry would improve his mood. Just as the four were finishing their ice cream, a team of navy-clad French Aurors apparated in and made a beeline for their table. One of the Aurors, a dark haired woman with violet eyes started speaking to Sirius in rapid French. He nodded several times and motioned at Harry and Draco.

"She just said that your father's been killed by rouge followers of Voldemort and your mum and Nana are in the hospital with severe burns from a fire that destroyed the house. Your sisters are alive and well. Narcissa was able to trigger the wards that sent our stuff to the Paris branch of Gringott's, so we didn't lose much." Hermione had known French for a while, and was able to follow the conversation. "It appears that they were all targeted attacks, aimed at undermining us."

Draco and Harry went pale. This couldn't be happening. Voldemort was gone. Why were his followers still so powerful?


	4. Chapter 4:Theft and Bereft

Severus was at Hogwarts, interviewing new Defense applicants. The last two that they'd managed to find had been mediocre wizards at best, and incompetent at worst. The woman he was interviewing now, a classmate of Regulus and Narcissa, was one of the obnoxious people Severus had ever met. "Excuse me, Professor-I'm-Not-Qualified-Enough-To-Be-A-Professor, but my credentials are excellent and I have recommendations from several Ministry officials."

Severus glared at her. "Excuse _me_, madam, but I have a Mastery in Potions, which is the subject that I teach. I was fourth in my year at Hogwarts, behind only my younger sister, my younger brother, and one of my best friends. If I recall what my brother mentioned when I went over the list of applicants with him, you were barely able to scrape by with an Acceptable on your Defense OWL. Please leave the premises before I have to escort you out. You are not qualified to teach anyone any subject." He watched her walk across the grounds. Suddenly, his mirror, which he still carried in his pocket despite the fact that only two other people possessed them, started screeching. There was only one thing that sound could mean: There were only two Marauders left. Lily had come up with that particular feature during their Seventh Year, when the war had started getting more deadly, so that whoever was left would know that at least one of their friends survived. He pulled the mirror out of his pocket. Sirius' face appeared in it.

"Sev, Gawain's dead, the house burned to the ground, and Narcissa and Ariana are in the hospital with severe burns. I've taken the kids, all five of them, to the Marauder Villa." The Marauder Villa was a house that the three oldest Black siblings, James, Gawain, and Remus had purchased right after graduation. The location, an island in the Mediterranean, was ideal for protection and secrecy. Had Lily and James not been spelled by Dumbledore, they could have gone there and lived.

Severus' heart dropped. "Sirius...I'll be there as soon as I can. How's Harry?"

"He locked himself in Gawain and Lily's old room and won't let anyone in. Hermione's beside herself. Draco's been trying to comfort her, but he's hurting too, and they're both worried about Harry. I'll explain more when you get here." Sirius sighed. Severus could see that he'd been crying, since his eyes were red. "I need you here. You're the only one who can help Harry when he gets like this…" Sirius' face faded from view.

Severus tossed some clothes and personal possessions into a knapsack and sprinted to Minerva's office. "I already heard, Severus. They need you more than I do. Try to be back by September 1st, but if you aren't, we'll postpone classes for a few days." He turned to the door. "Severus...do be careful. I fear that all is not well outside of these walls." He had the same feeling.

* * *

A light breeze greeted Severus when he reached the Marauder Villa. This cooler weather was a nice respite from the warm August back home. Through a window he saw a flash of long, silvery hair…Malfoy hair. It had to be Gawain's father. He quietly snuck in through a window, coming to stand next to his brother. Harry and Draco had their wands out and stood protectively in front of "their girls" and Hermione. Harry had a large gash across his left arm, one across his face and several bruises forming on his bare torso. Draco was limping from a sprained ankle and there was a large bump forming above his left eye. It was apparent that this fight had been going on for some time…it had taken Severus a bit longer to get to there than he would've liked. It was difficult apparating through several international borders. Sirius quickly gave his brother an update. "We've just received word that Narcissa and Ariana are dead. Their burns were far too destructive to be healed. Abraxas killed all of the other Malfoy relatives earlier this week."

"Let me take my grandchildren, Black. They belong to me now that I've killed my meddling wife, my infernal daughter-in-law, my horrible blood-traitor of a son, and everyone else who'd stand in the way of my power. I'm not going to ask you again. I'll just kill you." Abraxas laughed mercilessly in a way that reminded Severus forcibly of Voldemort.

"We don't belong to anyone, you murderous maniac! We are both of age, and we're certainly not going to go with you nicely," Harry shouted. Several spells shot out of his wand. None of them hit his grandfather.

"I'll just have to take you by force then." In a flash of light, Harry and Draco were gone.

"Harry!"Hermione's shriek filled Severus' ears. He turned to her and wrapped her sobbing frame with his arms. "We'll get them back, Hermione. Don't worry. If it's the last thing I ever do, I'll find him and bring him home to you." She fell asleep on the sofa, still sobbing. Two house elves fed Honoria and Callie, while Sirius and Severus made plans.

The two brothers made some tea and sat in the kitchen, poring over anything that might give them the slightest clue what had made Abraxas Malfoy so suddenly powerful. A dark brown owl that Severus didn't recognize swooped in and dropped a letter in his lap. "It's addressed to Hermione and I. I'll go wake her."

"There's no need, Professor. I'm right here." She took a seat next to Severus. "Have you found anything yet?"

"No. We were hoping that you could help us." Sirius continued perusing various books while his brother and Hermione read the letter. "_Dear Lady Hermione J. Granger Malfoy and Lord Severus A. T. Black Snape--Due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the deaths of Lord Gawain G.A. Malfoy, Lady Narcissa A. L. Black Malfoy, and Lady Ariana A. K. Ravenwood Malfoy, we have sped up the will process and have sent you the official copies by mail. We ask that you read these documents and send them back signed with your magical signature. Once we receive the papers back, we will file all of the paperwork for you. _

_Sincerely, Blacktooth, Gringotts' Wizarding Bank, Paris Branch." _

Hermione looked at Severus. "I know you'd like to wait for Harry, but I don't think we have that much time before someone from the British Ministry comes looking for us about the girls."

She nodded and began reading Gawain and Narcissa's will aloud. Somehow, that took her mind off of Harry and Draco. "_The Last Will and Testament of Gawain Gideon Abraxas Malfoy and Narcissa Allegra Loryn Black Malfoy: _

_The contents of vault 15 at Gringotts and all of the Malfoy properties that would have gone to Lucius are Draco's. (See the complete list of contents attached.) _

_The contents of vault 10 (Lily's vault, which contains several personal effects and the money she inherited from her mother's family) go to Harry. _

_All contents of the Marauder Vault now belong to Severus(Midnight) and Sirius (Padfoot) to do what they wish._

_We want complete custody of our children, Honoria Athena Elizabeth and Calista Ariana Noreen, to be given to Lady Hermione Jane Granger Malfoy and Lord Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy, holder of all applicable titles of the Ancient Houses of Black, Ravenwood, McGonagall, and Potter. The girls will be safe with them. If they are deceased before us, then custody of the girls will go to Lord Draco Cygnus Abraxas Malfoy(holder of all applicable titles of the Ancient House of Malfoy), Lord Severus Aurelius Tobias Black Snape or Sirius Charles Black. If necessary, Andromeda Tonks may be named guardian. Under no circumstances should the girls be placed with Abraxas Malfoy or with any members of the Black family other than those listed above. _

_We claim that we are of sound mind and that these are our wishes. (Harry, Draco, we love you very much. Please tell that to your sisters. They'll be fine growing up with you. Remember that the ones who love us are never truly gone.)" _Hermione was nearly in tears again by the time she finished reading. "Would you like me to read Professor Ravenwood's as well? I'm sure it's quite short."

Severus shook his head. "I'll read it." He skimmed the contents. "As we already knew, the entire Ravenwood estate goes to Harry, provided that he take care of Draco and his sisters." It went unsaid that if they didn't figure out a way to get Harry and Draco back, Hermione would be the one taking care of the twins…and she'd be doing it alone.

A/n: Sorry this update took so long...real life got in the way of writing.


	5. Chapter 5:Trying to Find a Way Out

When Harry opened his eyes, he had no idea where he was. The only thing he could see in the total darkness were Draco's boots, which he'd "accidentally" made glow in the dark a few days earlier. "I never thought that would come in handy, Harry," he muttered sarcastically.

"Where are we?" Harry brushed spiders off of his head. Well, he fervently _hoped_ that they were only spiders.

"I haven't the slightest idea. We could be anywhere, but I assume we're at an underused family property…there are several of those. A few in Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, I think there's one in Australia or New Zealand, but judging by the amount of spiders in here, I'd say it's somewhere cold."Draco rubbed his forehead. "Why don't you try to make some light in here? I can't find my wand."

"I can't either. We're either going to have to risk turning into our Animagus forms to set fire to wherever this is, or risk there being wards against wandless magic. We're good enough at it; we've been using only wandless magic at school since before we took our OWLs." Harry tried to conjure some illumination. Within seconds, a bright blue flame, the kind that was Hermione's specialty, appeared in his hand. It allowed them to get a better look at the room. "Looks like some sort of prison cell."

"Indeed. This cell was originally built to hold Malfoy debtors, but it's quite obviously fallen into disrepair. I'm not going to fix it…I rather like the atmosphere."

If Harry and Draco hadn't been so angry at the sight of their grandfather, they would have laughed at the large spider that had fallen onto the older Malfoy's shiny silver hair. "Where are our wands?"Draco snarled.

"You'll get them back when I'm finished training you. I've come to feed you, as you haven't eaten in over a week."

Harry's heart sank. That meant that yesterday had probably been September 1. Hermione would have had to handle Head duties by herself and explain where Harry and Draco were to Ginny, the only person that would even care, other than some of the Quidditch team._ " 'Mione…are you at Hogwarts yet?" _

"_Harry! Are you all right? Where are you? I've been so worried! Our location-bond isn't active right now. I thought you were dead." _

"_Draco and I are fine for now and we'll have to work on the spells later. It shouldn't be too much trouble, after all, we came up with the present version first year." _

"_We haven't got the slightest clue where we are. We've been unconscious in some sort of cell for over a week. Try looking up the Malfoy properties in colder regions. Have Sev or Sirius go to Gringotts for you. They're authorized to enter the Malfoy vaults." _

"_I will. Thank you, Dragon. I'm so glad you both are okay. I thought for sure he'd try to kill you." _

"_That's not completely out of his list of options, love. Don't worry about us."_ Harry knew she was probably crying right now. That's what Hermione did when she was really worried and stressed. "_Do you think Draco could do the Harmony Spell with me? We've never tried it wandless, and Gramps has our wands." _

"_Maybe. Try it. I've got to go now, your sisters are demanding our attention. I love you, Harry." _

"_Love you too, Dearest." _

"_I assure you of my deepest bond of brotherly love for you, Hermione." _Despite the situation, Draco grinned at Harry.

"What just happened to you two? It was like you went into a trance. You aren't a seer are you?"Abraxas asked the last question with a bit too much glee. Harry looked at Draco. He couldn't lie, it was impossible for him, but if his brother answered it would be suspicious.

"Neither of us have any useful Seer talent." Draco answered angrily.

Abraxas opened the door that was keeping them inside and prodded them up the crumbling stone steps. "I find that impossible to believe, considering the fact that Aurelia McGonagall would have been a very powerful Seer had my dear friend Albus not properly quelled it. She was your grandmother, was she not, Harry? My _wife_ also had some talent in the area. It would be nearly impossible for you not to have a degree of it." Harry remained silent as they walked toward a large banquet hall and were ordered to sit down at one end of the very long table. "If I'm going to mold the two of you into my minions, I might as well know more about you. What are your best school subjects?"

Harry rolled his eyes at Draco. It was quite obvious that this was an attempt to lull them into a false sense of security, and the two had been around Voldemort and Dark wizards enough to be aware of it. "We don't follow the traditional school curriculum any longer. We haven't for a few years now."

"Oh?" Abraxas was intrigued. "I wasn't aware that there were special classes for those who were above average."

"There aren't. We do much of our studying independently."That told him a lot, but they weren't by any means going to tell him about any of the spells they'd invented. Severus had gone over a plan with them about what to tell if they were captured. Dragon and Snitch were going to make their Marauder relatives proud.

"Who instructs you?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and did his best impression of his godfather. "If we told you all of our secrets, that would put us at a severe disadvantage since we know none of yours."

Draco snickered. He almost felt bad about feeling a bit of happiness when the man who'd become his father and his mother were both dead, but he knew they'd want him to enjoy life. Both of them had known the risks of Gawain being an Auror and being members of Abraxas' family. Harry seemed to be thinking the same thing. _"Draco, when we get home, we're putting Uncle Sev and Uncle Sirius in our bond. It won't be super difficult, and I think they'd like it if we did." _

"_Good idea. We're freaking Abraxas out again." _

"_I prefer to keep it that way." _

They could see the wheels turning in "Gramps" mind. He was formulating some plan…they could only hope it wasn't going to be detrimental to their lives.

A/n: I'll try to get a few more chapters out in the next two weeks before I go back to school...then, I can't promise I'll update nearly as much.


	6. Chapter 6:The Power of Love?

Sirius sighed. He and Severus had been looking for Harry and Draco for three months, and they were still no closer to finding out where Abraxas had taken them. "This would be easier, a lot easier, if Narcissa, Lily, or Gawain were around. Then, we could use some sort of blood magic combined with a locating charm."

Severus raised an eyebrow at his brother. "You might actually be on to something there, Padfoot. We haven't been thinking like Marauders lately. To combat the type of secrecy and power we're dealing with here, and we know Abraxas is extremely powerful, we're going to have to be inventive." Severus took a long sip of the tea he'd been drinking while poring over the Malfoy property papers. "You're right in saying that blood magic, though it's one of my specialties, wouldn't work here. For one thing, I didn't come up with the Marauder Code by myself. Lily and Remus were instrumental in coming up with some of the finer points. The rest of you were hopeless at it. Hermione is good at potions, better than I am, but she's no match for Harry and Draco when it comes to practical applications, and I won't let her attempt any more blood magic. Potions made with blood magic are extremely volatile. The only person I trust with that type of potion is Harry, and that's only because I've seen him work. He singlehandedly altered he and Hermione's version of the Marauder Code while she was with her parents. Draco was around, of course, but he didn't come up with the original version or the alterations."

"Too bad Harry's the one we're looking for…" Sirius muttered.

"That is one of the major pitfalls of that plan, yes. The other point is that you need very close blood relatives in order to use those spells for location. Hmmm…" Severus got up suddenly and walked over to his bookshelf. He set a huge book down in front of his brother. "This book is currently illegal in every, and I mean every, magical community around the world except for two tiny villages, one in Albania, one in deep in the Amazon rainforest."

Sirius' jaw dropped. "Not that I need to ask, and I probably shouldn't just in case the Ministry finds out about it and asks me, but…how in the name of Merlin did you get that, Sev?"

Severus grinned at his brother. "When I took it, I was doing the world a service. It had come to my knowledge that, during my time as a Death Eater, Voldemort was in possession of this book. I took it from him before he was able to do much damage with it. It holds the spell that he used to resurrect himself. The second half of the book delves into the deepest and darkest spells. One needs to be completely immersed in the Dark Arts or have the ability to read a combination of Parseltongue and a very ancient form of Mesopotamian writing to be able to even want to read those spells." Severus shuddered. "Voldemort could definitely read them, and I know Dumbledore did. Some of the spells that he threw at Harry and Hermione before they defeated him were found near the end of this book. It's for the first half, though, that I'm willing to chance the English Ministry of Magic finding out I have it here."

Sometimes, Sirius wondered what went on in his older brother's mind. Sirius had been second in their year at Hogwarts, but that was mainly natural talent. He never studied much, and didn't open up books unless he had to. Severus, on the other hand, was thoroughly an academic. Research and experimentation were key elements of Severus' life, and only Hermione and Harry's combined book selection was larger than his collection. "Do tell, Severus…what's so special about this illegal book that you're willing to risk spending the rest of your life soulless, now that they've got lethifolds guarding Azkaban?"

"Love Magic…the reason it's illegal, I think, is because there are only two people powerful enough perform these spells right now. There would be five, but since you and I are blood related, and Abraxas is far beyond evil, only Harry and Hermione fit the criteria. Love Magic requires two very powerful people who are not related by blood, that are in love to perform the spells together. The only spell that can be performed by one caster in this book is a very powerful location charm. I was hesitant to suggest this because Hermione is the guardian of Calista and Honoria, but I don't think we have any other choices. We've looked in every Malfoy vault, including Abraxas personal vault…"

"We only got in there because the goblins 'accidentally' gave that to Harry when Ariana died, and Hermione has permission to go into all of Harry's vaults." Sirius grinned.

Severus grinned back. "That proves we're not turning into stodgy old men, doesn't it? The point is, though, that we couldn't find any properties we didn't already know about. We tried every secrecy spell on every parchment slice we could find in all six of the vaults Abraxas still holds. We've tried potions, charms, defense spells…every legal spell in the book. We've got to take the risk now."

"I just hope we're not missing simple clue that's right in front of our noses. That's always how it is with us, you know." Sirius' face turned dark as he listed all of the times they'd failed to notice something was right in front of their noses. "During Seventh Year, we knew Wormtail was spending less and less time with us. James, Remus, and I knew he was sneaking out at night. You and Gawain missed seeing him at the Death Eater meetings you were forced to attend. We also knew something was weird when Dumbledore forced Lily and James to live in Godric's Hollow when there were plenty of places they could safely stay. He purposely split us up. We also should have known something was weird when we suddenly started hating each other's guts. I should have know Dumbledore would take Harry from us, and taken him with me that night. We knew Dumbledore was crazy, but we let Remus go around by himself. Yeah, Moony was one of the top twelve most powerful wizards alive at the time he was killed, but being a werewolf takes its toll on people. You and Minerva should have noticed something weird was up when Hermione left here. You knew Hermione well enough at the time to know she wouldn't have left Harry or Hogwarts without careful deliberation."

"Are you finished blaming yourself for things that happened when you were seventeen, Sirius?" Severus shook his head. "It doesn't do any good to sit around and dwell on things we can't change. You can do wonderful things with a time turner, the fact that you're sitting here is proof of that, but once people die, you can't bring them back to life. Trust me, I sit around thinking about all of that stuff, too. I'd like nothing better than to sit around here, with a cup of tea, and discuss the finer points of the Wolfsbane potion with our sister and I'd give anything to give Harry more than three years with parents…but we can't. We can't do anymore than take the events that happen in our lives as they come and try to do our best."

Sirius nodded. "I'm sorry, Sev. I guess I'm trying to find a useful outlet for grief. You know, maybe our problem is that, not only do we keep everything bottled up inside, but we've never gotten to properly grieve for anyone. After Lily and James died, we had to deal with everything alone. I was in Azkaban, you were here at Hogwarts, Remus went crazy, Gawain was in Canada. When Remus died, Harry's grief over losing Ron was more important than our personal feelings. Now, we're so caught up in trying to find Harry that we haven't been able to grieve properly this time either."

"Don't forget that in the past, most of our choices were easy. It was either do the right thing or die. Now, things are more ambiguous. We don't know what we're fighting this time. We don't know how powerful Abraxas is, or even why he took Harry and Draco in the first place."

"I do." Hermione walked into Severus' rooms carrying one of her tiny sisters-in-law. "I've been listening to you two the whole time. I know what spell you want me to do, Severus, and I'd willingly do it, but I can't right now. I won't be able to do it for at least another six months, and I don't think we can wait that long. Harry and Draco are already weakening mentally and physically. Abraxas only feeds them when he thinks about it…he's suppressing their magic, too. The last time I talked to them, Harry felt that they had another two or three weeks, at most, before something catastrophic would happen to him and Draco. You can't suppress that much magic and not have it do something terrible."

"Hermione, the only reason you couldn't do that spell is if you're…"Severus felt like banging his head on the table."Women who marry into the Malfoy family decide to have children at the absolute worst times." He and Sirius shared a look. Despite the risks, and the potential cost, the two of them had promised Lily that they would do whatever they could to take care of Harry. They weren't going to let him die while they were still alive. They had fought too long and too hard,…Severus and Sirius were going to have to attempt to do the Love Magic spell.


	7. Chapter 7:Reality's Ugly Face

Sirius wandered the Hogwarts grounds aimlessly. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going, or what kind of answers he expected to find. An empty bottle of Firewhiskey, or something equally alcoholic, he wasn't exactly sure what he had grabbed out of Severus' cupboard, dangled from his hand. "I really hope that wasn't some kind of poison…"Sirius muttered to himself."Not that it would matter much." He pulled his cloak, one he'd borrowed from Severus, since most of his winter wardrobe was still in France, tighter around his shoulders. It was unusually cold for early December, he thought, or maybe Sirius was just getting old.

"I hate winter. I hate the snow, the cold, the damp…the memories…"Sirius turned around, startled by the sudden intrusion on his thoughts.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the castle, making sure the broom closets stay empty, and prevent disgruntled students from jumping off the astronomy tower, Sev?" He offered his brother a small smirk, the only mirth his weary soul could muster.

"The broom closets were exceptionally empty tonight, you, James, and Gawain were the only students who ever attempted to jump off the astronomy tower, and it seems that most of the students share my opinion of the cold."A concerned look passed Severus' face. Since they had made the decision to attempt the Love Magic spell, or a modified version of it, that Hermione had found after a careful search of Severus' contraband book, Sirius had been distant and reckless, a dangerous combination. He'd never seen Sirius this reckless, and that was saying something. "You really shouldn't be this close to the Forbidden Forest when you're under the influence of…"Severus summoned the bottle from his brother's hand."The Harmony Blend, a specially formulated alcohol product, guaranteed to be hangover free, or your money back. Harry and Draco's special brew…I hear it's quite popular at the Three Broomsticks now."

"Little late for you to be worried about me going into Forest or my drinking, isn't it?" Sirius slurred. "Been in there loads of times…by myself, without you around. I don't need my big brother following me around, making sure I don't get hurt. If anyone is going to get hurt, they'll get hurt just by being around me."

Severus could have sworn he had time-traveled back a few years and that it was his nephew standing in front of him instead of his brother. "It's finally clear to me where Harry gets his self-pity streak. I have no idea why I didn't figure this out earlier," he muttered. He hoped that the same rational tactics he'd used with Harry would work. "You do realize, Sirius, that not one person has died because of circumstances that you caused."

Sirius tried to protest. "James and Lily…"

"…Were killed by a combination of circumstances that none of us could have foreseen or prevented." That wasn't entirely true, since Voldemort had forced Severus to come with him on that fateful Halloween, but there was no way, at that time, that Severus could have fought Voldemort, even with Lily and James' help. The three of them certainly were more powerful than Voldemort, if not individually, then collectively, but three twenty-one year olds going against a Dark wizard with decades more experience would have been suicidal. Lily and James had been killed as it was.

"You can't deny, Severus, that Moony was killed because he knew us. There's no possible reasoning your overly intelligent and sober mind can come up with that will convince me otherwise."

The older wizard took a deep breath. Could he really try to convince Sirius that Remus really hadn't died because of his association with the Blacks, Potters, and Gawain Malfoy? Severus wasn't entirely sure of that one himself. "For once, Padfoot, I don't have the answers. I wish I did. I wish there were more than two Marauders left, even though, somehow, I knew that you and I would be the last ones left. I wish Harry and Draco weren't Merlin knows where with Abraxas bloody Malfoy. I don't want to perform a spell that I can't predict the outcome of anymore than you do, but for Merlin's sake, Siri, we've got to." He had grabbed Sirius' shoulders sometime during his speech and Severus' dark eyes were locked with Sirius'. Severus had never sounded so desperate. "We promised. We _promised_."

Magic was radiating from Severus in waves. Had Sirius not been equally powerful, the magic probably would have killed him. As it was, that magic was enough to purify the alcohol from his system. He had to face the facts. "I'm scared, Sev. And when I'm scared I do really stupid things, and make my family members rescue me, when it's usually others that need rescuing."

"I know. You don't have to drink your fears away. I speak from experience when I say that they only come back seven-fold when you sober up. We have two days left before the conditions will be right to perform that spell, and I would rather not spend what could be the last two days of my life arguing with my favorite brother." Severus sighed.

"Don't let Regulus hear you say that. He's been in Hogsmede lately, demonstrating Hermione, Harry, and Draco's animal control spells." Sirius smirked. "You don't like arguing with me, Sev? I'm hurt. I thought that was your favorite pastime."

Severus rolled his eyes. "There's the Sirius Black we're used to. As a small confession, I do enjoy a good argument now and again, but I'd rather it be something less…emotional."

The two turned back toward the castle. "How did Minerva take it when you told her? Hermione and I were sure she'd beg you to find another way. She loves the two of us far more than she should…especially after all the stuff we've put her through."

Severus nodded. "She was so quiet. I'm used to her walking around, pacing, yelling…anything but the blasted silence. That's _my_ usual routine. I think this last episode with Abraxas has taken more out of her, out of all of us, than she'd like to admit. When she finally spoke, she asked what would happen if we didn't succeed…"

"You did tell her there was the possibility that if this goes wrong, all four of us could…"Sirius looked up at Sev.

"I couldn't do it, Siri. I could not stand in front of my superior, my friend, my second mother, and tell her that if this doesn't work, the four of us will be dead. I was the one that told her about Lily and Prongs, and Moony, and Winter…I was even the one who told her Wormtail had been caught. I told her that Harry and Draco were gone. Every time I've gone into her office over the past two years, with very few exceptions, I've been the bearer of ill tidings, and I just couldn't do it."

Sirius put a reassuring hand on Severus' shoulder. "That shows just how much knowing Harry has changed us all. Five, six years ago, you would have walked in there, delivered your carefully worded lines, and left, all without feeling the tiniest bit of emotion. With lives that should have made us cruel, bitter, twisted old men, Harry's presence, with his unending capacity for love and forgiveness, melted the chunks of ice that our hearts had become. You and I are closer now than we've ever been. We owe that all to Harry."

"Harry and his penchant for attracting evil…"Severus muttered.

Sirius snorted. "I think that's a genetic trait. We all seem to do that."

A/n: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter…new chapter(s) shall be forthcoming! Thanks for staying with this story, and thanks for the (not so) subtle encouragement to continue it!


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